Mrs Cameron Presents

Mrs Cameron Presents…by lenticular artist David Burder, revisits the 19th century discourse in which Julia Margaret Cameron argued that photography was not solely a commercial and scientific enterprise, but also a means of artistic expression. In modern times, lenticular imaging has been mainly relegated to commerce and science. However, David shows that the lenticular process can be used to convey the beauty and mysticism that is intrinsic to art. Burder addresses this by means of a lenticular image that amalgamates two of Julia Margaret Cameron’s most famous photographic portraits. The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty (1866) and Iago, Study from an Italian (1867).

The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty heralded the concept of poetry personified; not only by virtue of its subject, but also that its title was a line in John Milton’s poem, L’Allegro. Iago, Study from an Italian was unique in its time in that it sought to go beyond documentation to convey the character of its subject.

Cameron specialist Colin Ford CBE has noted that the subjects of these portraits, Keene and Colarossi, were the only two professional artists’ models ever used by Mrs Cameron. The result is, however, not commercial, but illustrative of photography as a means to convey aspects of the soul.

Burder’s re-mastering of the images into a lenticular print allows the two portraits to become intrinsically as one and then revert back to separate identities in order to suggest the universality of human emotion within the scope of individual personalities. The title, Mrs Cameron Presents…, seeks to convey the notion that the philosophy of Julia Margaret Cameron maintains a voice throughout the centuries.

Mrs Cameron Preesnts… was first exhibited in Spring 2005 at Mrs Cameron’s former home and studio ‘Dimbola Lodge’, Isle of Wight, during a conference celebrating her contribution to the field of photographic portraiture.

This lenticular image is now included in the Permanent Collection of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television ( now The National Media Museum), Bradford.

Mrs Cameron Presents…is from a series of lenticular images which explore changes of face between folk, family and generations

Janet Leigh Foster

David Burder kindly presented a copy of Mrs Cameron Presents… to the Jonathan Ross Collection following its inclusion in an exhibition at Gallery 286 in December 2005